Match-lighter.



rmfllmse. PA'BENTED FEB. a, 1903.

J. E. SHARPE.

MATCH LIGHTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 28, 1902;

N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. SI-IARPE, OF ONEIDA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-FIFTHS TO JOSEPHBEAL, OF ONEIDA, NEW YORK.

MATCH-LIGHTER.

@PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 719,889, dated February3, 1903.

Application filed April 28, 1902.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known-that 1, JOHN E. SHARPE, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Oneida, in the county of Madison, in the State of NewYork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Match-Lighters, ofwhich the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide a safety match -lightingimplement which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction,convenient to be carried in the pocket of a garment, and readily andconveniently used for lighting a match without danger of allowing thehead of the match from being broken off and cast about in the operationof lighting the match; and to that end the invention consists,essentially, of an inflexible tubular body open at one end for theinsertion of the igniting end of the match and having in its wall aseries of perforations dis tributed lengthwise of the wall and the innerface of said wall formed with serrations adjacent to the respectiveperforations, and a handle extending from the opposite end of said bodyand closing the same thereat, as hereinafter more fully .described, andset forth in the claim.

In the annexed drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are views of two sides of asafety matchlighter embodying my invention. Fig. 3 illustrates enlargedtransverse sectional Views on line X X in Fig. 1 of the drawings,showing different forms adapted for the body of the match-lighter. Fig.4 illustrates the manner of using the match-lighter, and Fig. 5illustrates one of the many modifications which may be applied to theexternal configuration of my invention.

a represents the body of the match-lighter, which body is tubular orhollow and inflexible throughout and may be either cylindrical orsemicylindrical or square or triangular, as shown in Fig. 3 of thedrawings, or of any other suitable shape in cross-section. The essentialfeatures of said body are, first, its open end a for the insertion ofthe igniting end of a match, as represented in Fig.

$erial No. 104,920. (No model.) i

4. of the drawings; secondly, its match-igniting surface b, (shown inFig. 3 of the drawings,)which surface is serrated or made rough in anysuitable manner throughout the length of said body to producesufficient' friction on the head of the match to ignite the match inrubbing it on said surface, and, thirdly, the perforations of the wallof the body, which perforations permit ventilation of the interior ofthe body after the ignition of the match.

I preferably form the body a of a metallic tube, which is open at oneend, as shown at a, and compressed transversely at the opposite end, asat a" in Fig. 1 of the drawings, said compressed portion closing saidend of the body and serving as a handle h for holding the match-lighterwhen in use, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The serrations on theinner surface of the body a I preferably form by punching a series ofperforationsin the Wall of the body. By this punching operation theinner surface of the wall becomes roughened or serrated adjacent to therespective perforations through which the interior of the'body isventilated. The compressed portion a" may be perforated, as shown at c,for the attachment of a chain (1 or a suitable cord by which it may besuspended in a convenient position near a match-safe or other suitableplace.

In using my described safety match-lighter the user of it takes hold byone hand the handie 71, and inserts by the other hand the lighting endof the match t' into the body at, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of thedrawings, and in withdrawing the match from said body the user pressesthe head of the match onto the serrated or rough surface I), whichcauses the match to ignite. In this operation the wall of the body aserves as a guard or shield to prevent an accidentally-broken-oif headof the match from being cast about.

The handle 71. may be of any desired shape to permit convenientmanipulation of the match-lighter. One of the modifications of saidhandle is shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

What I claim as my invention is-- A match-lighter consistingof aninflexible tubular body open at one end for the insertion of theigniting end of the match and having in its wall a series ofperforations distrib- 5 uted lengthwise of the Wall and the inner faceof said Wall formed with serrations adjacent to the respectiveperforations, and a handle extending from the opposite end of said bodyand closing the same thereat substantially as set forth and shown.

JOHN E. SHARPE. [L. 8.] Witnesses:

H. W. COLEY, E. L. HASKELL.

